PuTTY AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Shells

The best Shell alternative to PuTTY is Tabby, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to PuTTY and 19 are Shells so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Shell alternatives to PuTTY are Termux, PowerShell, ReTerminal and uniTerm.

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Most PuTTY alternatives are Shells, but you can also narrow the list to Terminal Emulators or SSH Clients. Other popular filters are Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android.
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Alternatives
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Alternatives list

  1. Tabby icon
     135 likes

    Tabby is an infinitely customizable cross-platform terminal app for local shells, serial, SSH and Telnet connections.

    151 Tabby alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  2. Termux icon
     133 likes

    Experience a powerful Unix terminal on Android without the need for rooting. Customize with packages via Apt, run command-line tools, SSH, and program in C, Python, and more. Enjoy a full Unix environment with bash, zsh, mouse support, and external display compatibility.

    156 Termux alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    • zsh
    • GNU Bourne Again SHell
    Good alternative?
     
  3. PowerShell icon
     206 likes

    PowerShell (including Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core) is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework.

    76 PowerShell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
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    6
  4. ReTerminal icon
     22 likes

    ReTerminal is a sleek, Material 3-inspired terminal emulator designed as a modern alternative to the legacy Jackpal Terminal. Built on Termux's robust TerminalView.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    Good alternative?
     
  5. uniTerm icon
     5 likes

    Lightweight all-in-one terminal with over 20 protocols including SSH, RDP, SFTP, and databases, featuring an autonomous AI agent for multi-round shell commands, advanced file transfer, real-time server monitoring, split panes, cloud sync, and multilingual support.

    27 uniTerm alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    Good alternative?
     
  6. ZOC icon
     71 likes

    ZOC is a powerful and well-established terminal emulator and telnet client, well known for its outstanding user interface with tabbed multi session support.

    101 ZOC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
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    8
  7. Terminal icon
     86 likes

    Terminal (also referred to as Terminal.app) is a terminal emulator included in Apple's Mac OS X operating system. It originated in Mac OS X's predecessors, NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and allows the user to interact with the computer through a command line interface.

    131 Terminal alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  8. Tempest icon
     2 likes

    Tempest is a powerful SSH, RDP, VNC, S3, WebDAV, SFTP, FTP, Telnet, Serial, RCON, and Mosh client for Android — built for developers, sysadmins, and DevOps engineers who manage servers on the go.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Online
    • US flagUnited States
    Tempest screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
  9. Termux Monet icon
     1 like

    A terminal emulator application for Android 8+ OS extendible by variety of packages, with Monet support and experimental features.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  10. MacTerm icon
     7 likes

    MacTerm (was MacTelnet) on OS X is now a complete replacement for Terminal, allowing access to both local and remote applications.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
12 of 19 PuTTY alternatives